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- Title
A Joint History Textbook in East Asia: A Resolution for Historical Disputes?
- Authors
Xu, Stella
- Abstract
Starting from the early 1980s, multiple transnational clashes have been generated by some Japanese right-wing scholars' attempts to omit or downplay Japanese war crimes during World War II in history textbooks. The most recent dispute in 2001 brought another flood of reactions from Chinese, Korean, and some Japanese scholars as well. Instead of criticism of the right-wing textbooks per se, some historians called for a more nuanced understanding of history and the necessity of compiling an alternative textbook to fit the changing international environment. A new association for progressive East Asian intellectuals was organized in 2002 with the aim of compiling a joint history textbook for promoting peace and human rights. After three years of intensive discourse involving conferences and papers, the first joint textbook of modern East Asian history was released in May 2005, first in Japanese, then in Korean, and finally in Chinese. Despite a number of problems and issues, this project is an unprecedented step forward for peace and reconciliation in East Asia. As valuable as it is as a textbook, it has even more symbolic meaning as a tri-national effort for promoting peace and human rights in East Asia. This paper examines the historical background, purpose, process, and significance of this joint textbook and offers some suggestions for revision.
- Subjects
CHINA; EAST Asia; JAPAN; PEACE movements -- History; INTERNATIONAL adoption; ECONOMIC development; INTERNATIONAL cooperation on human rights
- Publication
Japan Studies Association Journal, 2011, Vol 9, p97
- ISSN
1530-3527
- Publication type
Article